A long time ago I was in the kitchen and the door that opens upwards above the cooker hood was moving slightly and I could here a bit of movement. I banged on the door and something scuttled off. When we investigated it appeared a rat had come up the wall cavity and chewed into the extractor fan pipe. Then when it arrived in the cupboard it chewed its way out of the pipe. We only kept light bulbs up there so it must have been the cooking smells that attracted him. I just thank goodness that it didn't drop out into the kitchen!
Well if we're swapping rat stories... I store my Christmas decorations in the loft, early one December I was lifting them out when I realised one of the cardboard boxes had a hole chewed in it. Further investigation showed a stored away chunky red candle had been chewed to a core! No sign of the rat but a pile of droppings. No idea how it got into the loft, newish house with cavity wall insulation ah well It could have been worse.
You could try this method .................. buy a white or piebald hooded rat from a pet shop, and let it/them loose up at the lotty. When they interbreed with the wild rats, they have nice white patches on them, to make them easy targets !
Well, waddaya want ? Either they go, or they stay. It just seems a practical solution.
Probably not much help but my cat keeps on top of the rats around here. Behind my house is land that is disgustingly overgrown, apparently allotments that the council de died not to use any more. my cat spends hours sitting in front of the fence waiting for one to pop its head out
Not seen Roddy since that one and only sighting. Haven't fed the birds since. Thought I would give it a few weeks. They have plenty of natural food at the moment, lots of berries about and they aren't feeding little ones. When the weather gets cold I will attempt to feed them again and see what happens.
I really would like a cat Fruitcake but secondborn is allergic to them so it's not an option. Anyway knowing my luck it would catch the rat and bring it in as a present.
I think if it is a one-off sighting your are probably going the right way, remove the food source and fingers crossed.
I've had a rat take up residence in one of my compost bins. Though I'm usually adverse to using any form of poison the only effective way to get rid of them when resident in the garden seems to be to put down bait. I've not noticed over the years any ill effects on other small mammals that use the garden such as voles, mice and shrews. I think maybe because I place the bait near the rat holes other creatures perhaps don't go near it as they can smell the rat.
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A long time ago I was in the kitchen and the door that opens upwards above the cooker hood was moving slightly and I could here a bit of movement. I banged on the door and something scuttled off. When we investigated it appeared a rat had come up the wall cavity and chewed into the extractor fan pipe. Then when it arrived in the cupboard it chewed its way out of the pipe. We only kept light bulbs up there so it must have been the cooking smells that attracted him. I just thank goodness that it didn't drop out into the kitchen!
Well if we're swapping rat stories... I store my Christmas decorations in the loft, early one December I was lifting them out when I realised one of the cardboard boxes had a hole chewed in it. Further investigation showed a stored away chunky red candle had been chewed to a core! No sign of the rat but a pile of droppings. No idea how it got into the loft, newish house with cavity wall insulation ah well It could have been worse.
You could try this method .................. buy a white or piebald hooded rat from a pet shop, and let it/them loose up at the lotty. When they interbreed with the wild rats, they have nice white patches on them, to make them easy targets !
Well, waddaya want ? Either they go, or they stay. It just seems a practical solution.
Probably not much help but my cat keeps on top of the rats around here. Behind my house is land that is disgustingly overgrown, apparently allotments that the council de died not to use any more. my cat spends hours sitting in front of the fence waiting for one to pop its head out
Not seen Roddy since that one and only sighting. Haven't fed the birds since. Thought I would give it a few weeks. They have plenty of natural food at the moment, lots of berries about and they aren't feeding little ones. When the weather gets cold I will attempt to feed them again and see what happens.
I really would like a cat Fruitcake but secondborn is allergic to them so it's not an option. Anyway knowing my luck it would catch the rat and bring it in as a present.
If you Google in :
I need a ratproof bird table you get some good ideas from Yahoo. They give some useful ideas for preventing the rats
Let me know if you need the info cut n pasteing to you.
I think if it is a one-off sighting your are probably going the right way, remove the food source and fingers crossed.
I've had a rat take up residence in one of my compost bins. Though I'm usually adverse to using any form of poison the only effective way to get rid of them when resident in the garden seems to be to put down bait. I've not noticed over the years any ill effects on other small mammals that use the garden such as voles, mice and shrews. I think maybe because I place the bait near the rat holes other creatures perhaps don't go near it as they can smell the rat.